Families criticise temporary closure of Wakefield care home after residents told they had to move immediately
Hazel Garth in Knottingley was home to elderly people including some with dementia
Last updated 30th May 2024
Families with loved ones in a Wakefield care home claim they were told their elderly relatives had to move out immediately - due to a sudden and unexpected decision to close it.
Hazel Gap in Knottingley was home to six elderly residents, some with dementia.
Wakefield Council has now announced it is temporarily closing the home due to issues including staffing and the condition of the building, although it insists it will reopen.
Sharon Croft’s mother is 87 and has lived at the home for seven years. She has dementia and is on end-of-life care.
Sharon says her sister Jackie received a phone call last Thursday (23rd May) saying the home was closing:
“Jackie rang the nursing home and the lady who answered the phone in the office did not know anything about it.
“It just escalated from there on. We were told she had to find another nursing home within 24 hours.
“On the Friday morning Jackie got a phone call to say you’d better get up here because patient transport has been booked. Three of the residents were moved."
Another woman drove five hours from her home in Surrey after getting the call to say her mum needed to move.
“It’s heartbreaking,” says Sharon.
“The staff are like mum’s family, they spend more hours a day with her than they do with their own family.
“She’s not eaten today, she’s not got out of bed this morning, so she knows something is going on. She said ‘nobody wants me, nobody loves me’.
“And that’s heartbreaking. My mum worked all her life. And it’s as if they’re just like a piece of furniture… ‘oh we’re shutting, put them in there, it doesn’t matter’.”
Sharon says they were given some options of other homes her mum could go to but they didn’t feel any were suitable.
They have since visited another and are preparing to make the move later this week.
Last November a report said Hazel Garth needed urgent upgrade works including new fire doors. Until the work was carried out, Hazel Garth could not accept new residents to the 24-bed home.
The council says it has taken the decision to provide the best level of safe care for residents and it has since worked with the families to find new homes for all the residents.
It also says the jobs of staff who work at Hazel Garth are safe and that there will be no compulsory redundancies.
Jo Webster, Corporate Director Adults, Health said: “We’re sorry that we’ve had to make the difficult decision to move those we’ve been cared for at Hazel Garth to alternative accommodation.
“The safety and wellbeing of everyone in our care homes will always be our top priority. That has always been at the heart of every decision we’ve made. And at the moment we can provide a higher level of care in alternative settings.
“We remain committed to care provision on the site. As we support the six residents in settling into their new homes, our focus will then be continuing to work closely with our staff and the trade unions to put arrangements in place that will help us provide the best level of care at Hazel Garth going forward.”
It adds that there has been ‘no notice given and no evictions’.